Method of weighting shuttlecocks



Sept. 14, 1937 E. BAUER 2:0932301 METHOD OF WEIGHTING SHUTTLECOCKS FiledSept. 11, 1935 A "fwivyf fmgmmf ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 14, 1937 UNITEDSTATES PATENT oFFlcE METHOD F WEIGHTING SHUTTLECOCKS Eddie Bauer,Seattle, Wash., Application September 11, 1935,k Serial No. 40,1%.2

Claims. (Cl. 273-106) 5 forth by means of battledores in the hands of Incarrying out the 'steps in the method of my theTkplayers of thebgarie. ft h vinverlitou, Ellis ilustaltecnltnhe cfirawilrig lI1 employ e primaryo jec o my inven ion is' t e a soi cy n rica e o cor e lower method ofmanufacturing shuttlecocks which will part of which is fashioned with asemi-spherical be of the exact same weight when sold to the face. WhileI refer herein to thevhead as comconsumer. posed of cork, it will beunderstood that any other 19 laIi prfer to use the shuttlecock describedand uitable reilientdtiralle and lighenfiatiiial iiay c me in my a lowedapplication Ser. No. 705,- e employ an e ead may, as one `in 096, filedJanuary 3, 1934, on which this invenany convenient and appropriatemanner.

tion is an improvement, although it will be under- The entire exteriorof the head is provided with stood that my present invention may beapplied a protective and retaining cover or coating of 15 to themanufacture of other types of shuttlecomparatively Soft, but tough andleSilient macocks. i terial, such as kid, which provides a smooth It isa well known fact that skilled badminton "exterior surface for theshuttlecock.

' players require that the Lshuttlecocks employed For convenience 1napplying the cover to the in the game be of the exact same weight, andit hond, and also t0 insure the absence, 0f Wrinkles 20 is the purposeof my invention to provide an I employ 8. two-piece 01 Sectional CoverCompriseconomical and quick method of weighting the ing the lowerSection 's and the upper Section e shumecocks, and a method by which auof the l which cover-sections are glued or otherwise seshuttlecocks in agroup purchased may be brought gell fixed tg the ,exterir ulfacthofhedhead 2r to a uniform standard of Wei ht. e W0 Se@ ons are gue 0* e eaan 0 The 01d method of manufacurmg shuttlecocks smoothed down into closecontact therewith to would permit the assumption that all corks mademst?? a' Smooth Cover which enhances the du from the same materialswould be of the same rablllth 0f the eld' as P'lll a; ,tndmg to pre'weight, however, the subsequent st'eps'that follow serve e eei'rec s ape0 e ee' in the completion of the shuttlecocks cause a The dividmg unebetween the two Sections is 30 variation in weight upwards to 10 or 15grains, l eef/ered by e fmt' Smeeth annuler bend 9 0f accounted forapproximately as fol1ows:varia suitable meteriai This band is iocaiiedabove ons upwards to 5 or 6, grains in the leathers. `the semi-sphericalface of the shuttlecock, and

therefore the major portion of the head, includ- 4 or 5 grains in thefeathers; and 2 or 3 grains in f th ing the rounded face, is smooth andfree of ob- 3J e adhesive materials. In practical demonstrations it hasbeen found *that a variation of a structions and presents the desiredsmooth strikl ing surface for the battledore. grain more fir iess in theWeight. of a Shui'iiiecock The shafts 20 of the feathers or quillsradiate. causes its night to vary approximately one foot' from the head;in such manner as `to form an in- 40 In the accompanying drawing I haveiiiiisi'raiied verted, conical tail, with the tip ends 2| of the 40' theSteps empieyed in my method and, one physi' feathers terminating onacircular line, the natural cal embodiment of the invention, in whichthe Webs of the feathers being trimmed to a uniform steps are combinedand arranged according to Size and shape one mode I have devised for thepractical appli- The bare ends of the shafts as indicated at 22 l Ycation of the principles of my invention' but it are flared outwardlytoward their extremities and 45 will be understood that changes andalterations the latter are embedded in the head, the length. may be madein the exemplified Structure and of the feathers exterior of the headbeing uniform. method 0f making Shuttleeoeks Within the Scope Theindividual feathers are inclined at uniform 5o of ny (lims Witlutdeparting from the Drinangles and disposed about the center of the head,50 Cip 9S o my inVen 0n and therefore the tail of the shuttlecock isFigure 1 1S an elevation of the completed and symmetrical to insureaccuracy in the night ofthe weighted shuttlecock made according to myimmissile, proved method. The ends of the shafts of all the featherstermiv' Figure 2 is a sectional view of the shuttlecock nate in wedges23 which are forced or otherwise before the weight is added. 55

My present invention relates to an improved method of makingshuttlecocks or aerial missiles employed in games, such as badminton, inwhich the shuttlecock is passed or tossed back and Figure 4 is asectional view of Figure 3, taken f along line 4 4.

inserted through the flat portion of the upper cover-section i8, andinto the head for a suitable distance to anchor the feathers. Due to theresiliency of the material composing the head, the inserted ends of theshafts are grasped or clasped Y 5 tenaciously by the material and thefeathers are firmly held in place.

To hold the individual feathers against spreading, and to preserve theuniform and symmetrical shape ofthe tail of the shuttlecock, a cord 2lis twisted and intertwined about the adjoining feathers, and this cord,which is located just below the webs of the feathers, extends entirelyaround the tail in contact with the shafts', to hold the feathers intheir proper spaced relation.

` In the method of manufacture of my shuttlecock the steps are asfollows:-The cork is first fashioned to form the head Ill of theshuttlecock and then the cover-sections i6 and i8 are glued or otherwisefastened to the head. The annular band I9 is then permanently attachedcovering Y the joint between the two cover-sections. The shafts 20 ofthe annular series of feathers are then inserted through the coverandinto the head in the manner described and the shafts are secured inxed relation by means of the twisted f cord 24.

Due to the nature of Vthe materials thus employed in Vthe manufacture ofthe shuttlecocks, as shown in Figure 2, they may vary from 10 to 15grains in weight and therefore thefshuttlecocks cannot with precision beaccurately standardized as to weight.

In the method of my invention, I now weigh veach assembled shuttlecockand determine the variations in weight between them and apredetermined'standard. We may assume in this instance thatthepredetermined standard is, say, 77ers. 'Ihen the weight to be addedmust be equal to the difference between the weight of the 40 completedbirds, and the predetermined standard of weight. Assuming that theshuttiecocks have been completed, and all under the weight stand- YYarci, weighing 68, 70, and 71 grs. respectively, then pellets orweightsof 9, 7, and 6 grs. respectively y must be added to bring theindividual weights to' exactly 77 grs.

. A suitable tool is then inserted through the cover i3 and into thecenter of thev head, and then withdrawn, to form a passage 25, tofacilitate the insertion of a weight.

A weight such as a pellet of lead 2l, equal to the difference'in weightbetween the assembled shuttlecock vand the predetermined standard asstated above is then inserted through the flat vtop of the cover i0 andinto'the passage 25. As shown in the drawing, Figure 3, the pellet isinserted in the head well below the cover il, in order that the passagemay be closed by the resiliency of the cork.

o It will be apparent that the pellet or weight will be retained in thedesired position through the rough usage of `a game.

Obviously pellets of differentweightsare used in the respectiveshuttlecocksr accordingY to the variance of their weights. Y

The disk, as 2'l, is then glued or otherwise attached to the headentirely surrounding and covering the openingcaused by the insertion ofthe pellet.

The shuttlecocks are now completed and all of them manufactured andassembled according to my method will be of the exactsame weight thus jinsuring a perfectset of playing missiles which will respond identicallyto the players stroke.

While I have shown and described the weightas being of spherical shape,it will be'understood that a weight of any desirable and suitable shapemay i be employed. l

Having thus fully described myinvention what I- claimY as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent isz- 1. The method of making a shuttlecockof a i predetermined standard of weight which consists in assembling asub-standard shuttlecock. weighing the shuttlecock, and inserting aweight. equal tothe difference between the shuttlecock and thestandardof weight. f v i l 2. The' method of making a shuttlecock of apredetermined standard of weight which consists in assembling andweighing the Vsub-standard missile, forming a weight-receiving passagein the missile, and `inserting'a weight insaid passage I equal to thediilerence between the shuttlecock and the standard ofweight.` y,

3. The method of making ,a-shuttlecock of'a predetermined standard ofweight which consists in assembling and weighing the sub-standard Ishuttlecock, forming a weight-receiving passage in theshuttlecochinserting a spherical weight in the passage equal to thedifference between the shuttlecock and the standard, and covering thepassage-edit to give the shuttlecock a nor- 44 mal appearance. y

4. The steps in the method of making a shuttlecockV of a predeterminedstandard of weight andv having an elastic head, which said steps consistin assembling the sub-standard shuttlecock, u weighing the same,creating a passage in the elastic head, and inserting a weight in thepassage equal to the diil'erence between the shuttlecock and thestandard of weight. i

- 5. Themethod of making a shuttlecock of l u predetermined standard ofweight which consists in assembling and weighing thesub-standard`shuttlecock, forming `a weight-receiving passageA inV the shuttlecoclr,insertingV a weight inthe passage equal to the difference between theshut- 55 tlecock and the standard of weight, and covering thepassage-adit with a sealing disk to give theY shuttlecock a normalappearance.

EDDIE BAUER. 0

